Exclusive: Facebook has become a destination for teenage girls to
access hardcore pornography shared by their male friends, a new study shows.

The University of East London surveyed 80 children and found 66 per cent of girls aged between 12 and 16 had seen pornographic content.

All of those girls had come across the images on Facebook and said it was their main source of porn.

Dr Amanda Roberts, a psychology lecturer at the university who created the study, exclusively seen by Telegraph Wonder Women, said: “It is shocking content; it seems the boys are putting it on there to shock them.

“It’s like back in the 1950s where boys would run around girls with worms. It’s just different ways now.

“They are friends with so many people they can’t block it; it comes through on their phones. We’re talking about quite hardcore things.”

The findings come after an NSPCC study, commissioned by The Daily Telegraph, showed a third of school pupils believe online pornography dictates how young people have to behave in a relationship.

Dr Roberts spoke in support of Telegraph Wonder Women’s Better Sex Education campaign which calls for the UK’s official teaching guidance to be updated to reflect the internet age. It has not been updated since 2000.

She said: “I think schools should talk about porn. I don’t think we will be able to stop it because it’s out there, but if you can educate them and say that’s not how it is all the time, then it would help people be less frightened by it.”

The research will be showcased on a Channel 4 documentary Porn on the Brain on Monday 30th September at 10pm, as part of Channel 4’s Campaign for Real Sex.

Telegraph Wonder Women is campaigning for better sex education, urging David Cameron to bring sex and relationships education into the 21st century. Sign our petition at change.org/bettersexeducation or email us at bettersexeducation@telegraph.co.uk. Follow the campaign on Twitter #bettersexeducation, @TeleWonderWomen